Inseam sewing-machine.



L. E. TOPHAM.

,INSEAM SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION map APR. 23, um.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Patenbed Dec. 31, 1918.

4 SHEET3-SHEET 2 .1 EM I ML MAR. MP A m OWE T IrE ES Mw .L A m NI. l-DlDI L. E. TOPHAM.

INSEAM SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APRJZIL 1917 1,289,314. Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3'.

11872122? M c? W/ L. E. TOPHAM.

INSEAM SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.23, 1911.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

LAURENCE TOPHAM, OF SXK AIMPSCOTT,

MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY IVZESNE ASSIGIDIMENTS, T0 UNITED SHOEMACHINERY CORPORATION, 6F PATERSON', NEW JERSEY, A CORPOEATIOI-l' OF NEWJERSEY.

l INSEAM SElFJING-MACHINE.

Application filed April 23.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I. LAURENCE E. TOPHAM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Swampscott, in the county of Essex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements inInseam Sewing-lllachines; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

The invention relates to inseam shoe sewing machines such as are usedfor sewing the uppers to the soles of turn shoes, or the welts anduppers to the insoles of welt shoes.

In machines of this type as heretofore constructed the feed of the workhas been inter- Inittent, and consequently has involved starting andstopping the work during each stitch forming; cycle. These machinesusually operate upon lasted shoes, and the inertia 0f the comparative yheavy last and shoe which must be overcome at the beginning and end ofeach feeding movement limits the speed of operation, and subjects thefeeding devices and the work to objectionable strains which are liableto injure the between substance and to cause inaccuracies or variationsin the lengths of the stitches. The rapidly recurrent intermittent feedalso renders it diflicult for the operator to properly hold and guidethe work, particularly in operating about the toe or at points where thecontour of the shoe changes rapidly.

It is the object of the present invention to eliminate theseobjectionable features, thus )ermitting the speed of operation to beincreased, and also permitting the work to be more easily and accuratelyguided, and with less care and exertion on the part of the operator. Tothis end the invention. contemplates smmounting and actuating: some orall of the work engaging devices of the stitch forming and work guidingmechanism that the worlr is advanced or fed contin ously during thesewing. thus eliminating the objectionable strains and inaccuraciesincident to startinn' and stoppingthe work dur ng each stitch formingcycle, and permitting the speed of the machine tohe increased, and alsofacilitating the proper guiding and manipulation of the shoe by theoperator. The specific form'of the parts. and the man Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31, 1.918..

1917. Serial No. 183,880.

nor of mounting and relatively actuating them to continuously feed thework is not ma terial to the broader scope of the invention. Inembodying the invention in inseam sewin; machines in which the channelguide re ciprocatcs in the lineof feed, either with or without a feedpoint or awl, it is preferred to mount the needle and hack-gage toreciprocate together in the line of feed, and to so time thereciprocations that the return movement or back-feed of the needle andhack-gage occurs during the forward feed of the channel guide or channelguide and awl while the back-feed of the latter part or parts occurswhile the needle is in the work and is moved forward in the direction ofthe feed. The back rest with. which machines of this type are usuallyprovided may also be mounted to move in the direction of the feed, andwhen so mounted, is preferably advanced and returned in unison with theneedle.

The invention. will be readily understood from an inspection of theaccompanying drawings and the following detailed description of themachine illustrated therein.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a right-hand side elevation of a welt andturn sewing machine embodying a preferred form of the invention; Fig. 2is a detail. view on line 2, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail section on line3, Fig. 1; Fig. l is a left-handside elevation of the machine; Fig. 5 isa partial front elevation, certain parts being omitted to better showthe parts behind them; and Fig. 6 is a detail side elevationillustrating the support for the needle and hack gage.

In the drawings the invention is shown embodied in a welt and turnsewing machine which is similar in general construction to the machineshown and described in Patent No. 1,108,560, August 25, 1914. Thismachine is provided with a curved hook needle 2, a looper 4, a threadarm 6, and awl 8, a channel guide 10, a hack-gage 12, which, as shownalso acts as a welt guide, a back rest 14. a talreup 16, and anauxiliary takeup 18. all of which are similar in construction to thecorresponding parts in the machine of the patent, and all of which, withthe exception of the needle, haclngage and back rest, are or may besimilarly mounted and operated.

Tn the machine of the patent the work engagement of the needletherewith. In the -needle segment in the line of feed.

machine shown the objectionable features of this intermittent feed areeliminated by so mounting and actuating the needle, back-- gage, channelguide and awl, that the advance or feed of the work is continuous duringthe sewing. To'securc this result the channel guide and awl are mountedone feed slide 20 which has the same construction as the feed slide ofthe patent, and is reciprocated by a cam lever engaging a pivoted at 62-to a fined supporting braclrt,

feed cam 24 as in the machine of the patenhif The channel guide issecured. upon a lever 26 which is pivoted on the feed slide, and isrocked at proper intervals through a cam lever 28 and rock shaft 30, asin the machine of the patent. The awl is secured in an awl segment 32pivotally mounted on the feed slide, and connected by a link 34; with alever 36 also mounted onthe feed slide and rocked at roper intervals bya cam lever 38, as in t' 9 machine of the patent. The needle and backgage (welt guide) are also mounted for reciprocation in the line offeed, and are advanced in the direction of the feed during the back-feedof the feed .slide, and are returned or back fed during the advance ofthe feed slide. As shown, the needle is secured in a needle segment 40which is pivotally mounted and guided on a supporting plate 42, and isconnected by a link 44 with an actuating cam lever 46. The ends of thelink are connected with the cam lever and needle segment by hall joints,to permit the movement of the needle and The back-gage or welt guide 12is secured upon an arm 48 which is pivoted upon a stud 50 secured in thesupporting plate 42. The arm 48 is connected by a link to a hack-gageslide 54' which is operated and locked at proper intervals by mechanismfully 'described in the patent referred to. The link is connected withthe back-gage slide and the arm carrying the back-gage by ball joints,to permit the movement of the back-gage in the line of feed. The support42 for the needle and. back-gage is secured to a rod or stud 58 mountedto slide longitudinally in bearings in the machine frame, and alsoforming the supporting stud on which the feed slide 20 is mounted. Thesupport 42 is also guided and retained in proper p0silion-by theengagement of the stud-50 with a bearing formed in the bracket 58 Fig.5);

The mechanism for reciprocating thestnd 56. support 42, and the needleand back-gage carried thereby, comprises a cam lever 60 and provided atits rear end. with a roll 64 engaging the feed cam 24. The .lever isconnected to the rod 56 by a pivot stud 66 which is adjustably securedin a slot 68 .in the lever and engages a pivot block '(0 which fitswithin a transverse slot in a block 72 formed on the end of the rod. Byadjusting the stud 66 the movement of the needle and backgage in theline of feed may be varied in accordance with the length of stitch to besewed, and in accordance with the adjustmentof the mechanism forreciprocating the feed slide 20.

In the construction shown the back rest is mounted for movement back andforth in the line of feed. As shown, theback rest is secured on theforward end of a lever 74 which is pivotally supported on the for aidend of the back rest slide 2 6, and is connected at its rear end to alink 78, the other end of which is connected to an actuating lever 80.The lever 86 is rocked to reciprocate the back rest. in the line of feedthrough a pivot block 82 which is mounted on the block 72 atthe end or?the rod 56, and tits within a slot formed in the upper end of the lever.Through these connections the movement of the rc'd 56 re iprocates theback rest in unison with the" needle and back gage. Tn doing certainclasses of work, at least, it has been found desirable to retain theback rest when operating on shoes in which there are rapid changes inthe contour of the last along the line engaged bythe back rest has atendency to knock or displace the shoe.

The mode of operation and timin parts is as follows. During the Iorwardstroke of the needlejthrough the work the needle, the back gage, the awland the channel guide are all moving in the direction of.

the feed. After the ncedle'has completed its forward stroke, and whilethe looper and thread arm are acting, the channel guide is withdrawn andthe channel guide and awl are back fed. They complete tneir back feed,

start forward. in the direction or the-feed,

and ree'ngage the work ust belore the needle clears the work on its backstroke. Immediately after the needle finishes its back stroke,

otthcv the back gage is lifted away from the work,-

and the backjeed of the needle and back gage takes place. At the end ofthe back the feed, and the back gage engages the work and is locked justbefore the needle reaches It will be feed at all times during eachcycle; and that '12 feed they start forward in the direction of the backfeed of each element takes place while one or more of the other elementsis work,- and in the opposite direction while withdrawn from the work,and mechanism for actuating oneor more of the other work engagingdevices of the stitch forming and work guiding mechanism to continue thefeed. while the needle is out of the work.

14. A11 inseam sewingmachine, having, in combination. stitch forming andwork guiding mechanism including a needle and channel guide, mechanismfor moving the needlein the direction of the feed while in the work, andin the opposite direction While withdrawn from the work, and mechanismfor moving one or more of the other work engaging devices of the stitchforming and.

work guiding mechanism in the direction of the feed while the needle isout of the Work.

15. An inseam sewing machine, having, in combination, a needle, channelguide and back gage, one or more of which is in active engagement withthe work throughout the sewing, and mechanismv for moving eachin thedirection of the feed when in active engagement with the work.

LAURENCE E. TQPHAM.

